In the vast universe, the history of humanity is but a flash of light from a lone star. The life of a single person should be lost in space and time. But among the stars, there is one light that burns brighter than all others. The light of Samus Aran. Her battles extend beyond her life, and etch themselves into history.

Samus Aran (サムス・アラン,Samusu Aran?) is an intergalactic bounty hunter and the protagonist of the Metroid series.

Orphaned during a Space Pirate raid on her home of K-2L, Samus was adopted by the mysterious Chozo and taken to Zebes, where she was infused with their DNA and raised to become a warrior. Once she reached adulthood, Samus joined the Federation Police and served under the Commanding Officer Adam Malkovich. Though she ultimately left to become a Bounty Hunter, she was nonetheless hired by the Galactic Federation on many occasions. Equipped with her cybernetic Power Suit, Samus has become famous for accomplishing missions previously thought impossible. Her most renowned achievements are the destruction of the Space Pirate base on Zebes, her role in ending the Galactic Phazon crisis, her extermination of the Metroid species, and her disobedience of orders at the Biologic Space Laboratories research station where she chose to destroy the deadly X Parasites rather than turn them over to the Galactic Federation.

Samus broke ground early in the gaming world when she debuted in the 1986 game Metroid. Originally players were under the impression that Samus was a male, as even the instruction booklet suggested this. However, completing Metroid in under five hours revealed Samus to be a young woman.[3] Although Samus wears the Power Suit throughout most of the Metroid series, she traditionally removes it at the end of most games, often as a result of satisfying certain conditions such as completing the game quickly or with a high percentage of the game's items collected or even both.

Biography

Personality and portrayal

“

With the death of the planet Phaaze, Samus Aran's arduous fight against Phazon has ended. However, in the vast regions of space, this victory is just a twinkle of a star, spreading the light of hope through the darkness.

Metroid Fusion's artwork gave various brief insights into Samus' early life.

Samus' personality has never been explored in-depth within the context of the games, a conscious decision by Nintendo to help the player imagine themselves better as the in-game character. However, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and Metroid: Other M are perhaps the most notable games in the series to give insight into Samus' personality, as well as other media formats such as comics and manga. Prior to Metroid: Other M, her voice would only be represented by text at the beginning narration, as well as throughout Metroid Fusion.

Typically, Samus is depicted as a melancholic, heroic loner of few words. Despite her great achievements, she remains lonely and brooding, and seeks revenge against the Space Pirate - especially Ridley, who was personally responsible for the death of her mother. Despite her tragic origins, Samus has been shown to have unparalleled willpower and resourcefulness, succeeding where thousands failed and stopping at nothing to save the galaxy from any threat that may arise. Such is Samus' determination that she was even willing to sacrifice herself to prevent the spread of the body-snatching X Parasites.

Despite her reputation for destroying even the deadliest of foes, Samus is also known for her compassion, and has consistently stood up to protect the helpless and downtrodden. Two notable instances of this were when she volunteered to single-handedly save the Luminoth race from the brink of extinction, and when she helped innocent Etecoons and a Dachora escape a self-destructing Zebes. In Metroid II, Samus also bonded with a Metroid who was born in front of her eyes, and decided to spare it, possibly recalling her three-year-old self during the attack on K-2L. It later sacrificed itself at the end of Super Metroid to save Samus, leaving her heartbroken and emotionally scarred for some time, as shown in Metroid: Other M.

Witnessing her mother's death at Ridley's hands left Samus with posttraumatic stress disorder, which manifested as a severe panic attack upon her first encounter with Ridley in adolescence. She appears to have since learned to cope with this trauma, as she has rarely hesitated to do battle with her hated nemesis since then: Upon learning that he had survived their first battle on Zebes, Samus expressed only anger and wasted no time rushing to her Gunship and chasing Ridley all the way down to the planet Tallon IV. Samus' PTSD resurfaced a second time when she encountered a cloned Ridley on the BOTTLE SHIP during the events of Metroid: Other M - a period of time in which Samus was already emotionally vulnerable following the death of the Metroid hatchling and the destruction of her childhood home of Zebes.

During the events of Metroid: Other M, Samus was depicted as going through a period of severe self-doubt after the destruction of her childhood home and the death of the Metroid hatchling. During this time, her behavior was more passive, less self-reliant, being uncharacteristically dependent on Adam Malkovich when she joined him and his platoon in investigating the BOTTLE SHIP, despite later stating that she dislikes the very idea of taking orders from a commanding officer. Her PTSD regarding Ridley also resurfaced during this mission, to the point that she could barely communicate when attacked by his clone, and could not regain her composure until Anthony Higgs was apparently killed trying to defend her. Other M's depiction of Samus has garnered significant criticism for being perceived as inconsistent with her depictions in all other games, as well as the questionable implications of her submissive behavior and interactions with Adam during the game's events. However, Other M is the only time these traits have been observed; by the time of the events of Metroid Fusion, which takes place after Other M, Samus is once again portrayed as self-reliant and strong-willed, if somewhat more introspective.

Age

Samus' precise age has never been revealed, with the Japanese Prime site even stating that her age is unknown. Other M concept art reveals that in her early years of around the time of the K-2L attack, that she is "4-6 years old,"[4] contradicting early media saying it happened when she was three, and in her Federation military period, she is "15-17 years old."[5]

Inspiration from the Alien Series

It is plausibly assumed that Samus was inspired by Sigourney Weaver's character Ripley from the Alien series. Her relationship with the Metroid is comparable to Ripley's relationship with a surviving LV-426 colonist named Rebecca "Newt" Jorden. Like the Baby, Newt dies in the sequel, Alien3, and just like Samus, Ripley feels guilt over her death.
Unlike Ripley, Samus has never shown to be traumatized by the Metroids she faces on her various missions.

In Other Media

"What's the matter? All I said was that Komaytos look like little Metr—" Non-canon warning: This article or section contains information that may not be considered an official part of the Metroid series in the overall storyline by Nintendo.

Early art of Samus.

In licensed Metroid material outside of the games, Samus’s personality is largely left up to the writer in question. As such, her personality has varied considerably between major publications. The Magazine Z manga depicts her as suffering from childhood trauma and often thinking heavily about her role and the role of the Pirates. In the Captain N: The Game Master comics, Samus is depicted as brash and money-hungry (as just about any bounty hunter would be), though she is willing to compete fairly with Princess Lana for the protagonist Kevin Keene’s feelings, suggesting her behavior is something of a "tough-guy" act.

While Samus does not have royal heritage in any of the games, she was depicted as the queen of Garbage World in A King of Shreds and Patches in Captain N, and Anthony Higgs gives her the nickname "Princess" in Metroid: Other M (although in concept artwork James Pierce says "Heey, Princess!" likely referring to Samus). Non-canonically, she is also depicted sitting on the throne in the King ConanDiorama in Corruption. This would seem to indicate that she became an empress to the Reptilicus, although this is never depicted in-game.

Physical appearance

Samus Aran in the top endings of Metroid, Metroid II, and Super Metroid.

From the Super Metroid Players' Guide

Samus Aran is a human. According to the Super Metroid Players' Guide, she is 6 feet 3 inches tall (roughly 190 cm) and weighs 198 pounds (roughly 90 kilograms); however, the manual of Metroid II: Return of Samus attributes these measurements to her Power Suit instead.[6] Physically, her body is quite lean under the armor, though her observed superhuman abilities may be accountable to her muscle/bone density given her hybrid genetics and augmentations. Underneath the helmet, Samus has green-tinged blue eyes, light skin, and typically wears her blond hair in a modified ponytail with a red headband, with a lock on either side. The exact hairstyle, however, can vary from game to game.

Similarly, Samus's Hairstyle has varied in the early games and other media. In the original Metroid, her hairstyle was depicted as wavy and reaching just beyond her shoulder blades in the ending, while in Metroid II and Super Metroid, it was depicted as straight with a part on the left side of her forehead and bangs, respectively, with the former only reaching her neck and the latter reaching her shoulders. In Fusion, she has two bangs, one of which partially covers her left eye slightly, and is depicted as long enough to reach down her back. In addition, in Zebes Invasion Order, Samus's hair, similar to Fusion was depicted as long enough to reach down her back. Samus's signature hairstyle debuted in Metroid: Zero Mission, and has been present in every Metroid game released since. The only exception is Metroid Prime Hunters which, though it retained Samus's ponytail, lacked the two locks of hair on each side of her head. Previously, Samus had been depicted with a ponytail in Metroid Prime and (briefly) at the end of Metroid II and Super Metroid.

Samus's face structure has also varied between games. Metroid II, Super Metroid, and Metroid Fusion gave her a wider face and larger eyes than later incarnations. In particular, her appearance for Super Metroid is stated to be based on American actress Kim Bassinger. In Metroid Prime, her jaw was squarer, her eyes deeper-set and her lips more defined. Zero Mission gave her higher cheekbones and a thinner face than previous installments, and that template has been the basis for every game since. Echoes' incarnation is possibly the most critically panned appearance of Samus, due to the in-game model suffering from the uncanny valley.Prime Hunters, on the other hand, gave Samus a face that appeared to be a blend of Zero Mission's and Prime's depiction. Samus retained the deep-set eyes, traditional ponytail, and fuller face from Prime, but also had Zero Mission's higher cheekbones. Corruption's is closer to that of Zero Mission, with a thinner, more stylized face. In other media, such as Zebes Invasion Order, Samus's face was rendered with a similar design to various Japanese anime, such as Speed Racer.

On the other hand, Metroid: Other M is perhaps the largest change Samus has ever had to her appearance since Zero Mission. She is depicted for the first time with short hair. While her adult appearance still gives her a ponytail, the two locks on either side of her head have been heavily reduced in size, her bangs have been altered and her ponytail has been moved to the nape of the neck. She also has the beauty mark that Yoshio Sakamoto alluded to in the Super Metroid developer interview, under the left side of her lip. A mole was marked in concept art for Metroid Prime, but was not added to the model. Before the credits, Samus is briefly depicted with her hair down, the first instance of this in 3-D. With her hair down, she has locks of hair hanging over her shoulders. After Anthony steps in, the lock over her right shoulder is no longer there. She then ties her hair back into her ponytail, mirroring the scenes in Metroid II and Super Metroid where she unties the ponytail. A development screenshot pictured her young appearance with black hair.

Powers and abilities

“

Even without the Power Suit, all that training she did with the Chozo has made her a super athlete. I don't think a normal human could ever keep up. Just look at her.

Samus Aran's infusion with Chozo DNA, as well as her warrior training since her childhood, has turned her into a superior athlete. Her training began at the age of 3 and continued up until she was 14 years old. As a result of the Chozo’s influence, Samus is capable of running and jumping heights far past normal human ability, as well as surviving falls that would otherwise kill an ordinary human. Samus is also more adaptive to foreign alien environments that normal humans cannot survive in, such as the majority of Zebes and Elysia.

Samus also demonstrates good sharpshooting skills. She is an excellent marksman, with incredible aim, and is tremendously deadly in combat. She exhibits prodigious puzzle-solving and hacking skills. She also possesses a lithe figure that allows her to crawl through tunnels and gaps that would normally require usage of the Morph Ball. All of these are, of course, augmented further by her Power Suit. If need be, Samus will engage in melee combat, often using kicks and wrestling tactics to weaken her foe for a point-blank shot.

Samus gains an additional boost of power, in addition to the upgrades it provides, as seen in this Metroid: Other M art.

The extent of Samus’ training after she joined the Federation Police is currently unknown, but it is clear that the Federation has made one major augmentation to her abilities: her infusion with Metroid DNA. This infusion was done in a last-ditch attempt to save her life after she was infected with the X Parasites, and thus it was not completely known at the time what the side effects would be.

As a result of the infusion, Samus gained immunity to X Parasites, as well as the ability to absorb them for energy. However, she also inherited the Metroid’s crippling weakness to cold, though this disability was negated after she absorbed the essence of the SA-X. However, Samus does not seem to have inherited the Metroids' ability to float, or to absorb bio-energy from life forms beyond the X Parasites.

Equipment

Samus’ most notable piece of equipment is her Power Suit, which has become virtually synonymous with her own identity. This suit was given to her during her time with the Chozo, and was built to be fused with her mind, body, and spirit. The original Power Suit was destroyed when Samus crash-landed on Zebes after an ambush by Space Pirates, but her duel with the Ruins Test gave her a new, upgraded suit, which is able to absorb dozens of upgrades of alien origin. The Power Suit's main purpose is to protect Samus from adverse environments and enemy fire, and can be upgraded to dozens of other forms, each with its own different advantages. While some suits are stronger than others and have different abilities, they all maintain the same basic shape and usage.

Beneath the Power Suit, Samus wears a skin-tight body suit known as the Zero Suit. Because of its negligible weight, this suit allows Samus to perform at top physical performance level, and gives some weak protection from enemy fire. She also owns an emergency pistol known as the Paralyzer, which auto-charges to fire stunning shots, though it has no lethal capacity.

For transportation, Samus uses her Gunship, which usually resembles her helmet. Samus has been seen in five gunships of unique design: Her first ship design was used and destroyed on her initial Zero Mission, while the second was used in her mission to Tallon IV and the mission to the Tetra Galaxy. She has had other two ships custom-made for her in Aliehs III's shipyard: Her modular ship used in the waning days of the Phazon crisis, which combined Chozo and Federation technology, and the ship for which she is best known. This gunship model was first seen in the mission to Aether, and stayed with Samus until its destruction in SR388's asteroid field. After its destruction, Samus was assigned a new ship from the Federation with an onboard AI for her investigation of the BSL.

It is currently unknown if/how her first two ships and the "iconic" ship are related, although information on the Metroid Prime website suggests that her ship in that game was the same one as her Zero Mission model, perhaps salvaged from the wreck on Zebes.

Misplacing Upgrades

A curious aspect of the Metroid series is that Samus begins most games with a minimal amount of equipment, even after accumulating a sizable number of upgrades in the preceding game that would help her on subsequent missions. This is evidently a necessary gameplay mechanic needed for every title in the series, but it is unknown why this occurs so frequently in-universe, and has become a subject of humor over the years.

Later games in the series have presented plot-related explanations for this: In games such as Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Samus starts out with a considerable amount of gear, but is quickly stripped of most of it by attacks or unfortunate incidents. Samus then regains these abilities over the course of the game, in addition to a vast array of other upgrades that expand her arsenal well beyond its initial size. Additionally, Samus seems to relinquish most of her upgrades in the end of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, explaining why she only has her basic abilities by the time of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Samus

Featured in

Location

Attacks

Weakness

Green core of Morph Ball

Metroid Prime: Federation Force is the first Metroid game where Samus is not the main protagonist or even playable, but plays a role as a secondary character, aiding the Federation Force. After the Space Pirates are discovered in the Bermuda System, the Galactic Federation asks Samus to investigate their activities. She is briefly seen flying over Excelcion, and she destroys one of the missile factories on Talvania while the Force destroys another. During M10: Black Hole, Samus contacts the Force directly to warn them of a fifth Missile Transport ship, which they destroy. She also assists the Force after the Rohkor Beetle battle, using her Ship Missiles to finish it off. After M14: Tremor, the Force mysteriously loses all contact with Samus.

A Decoy item in the game deploys a scarecrow-like model of her to distract Space Pirates.

Battle

In M22: Convergence, it is revealed that Samus was captured by the Space Pirates and brought aboard their battleship Doomseye. She is then brainwashed, transformed into gigantic size and forced to fight against the Federation Force, serving as the game's final boss. After she is defeated, she reverts back to her normal size and freed from the Pirates' control, but is then buried under falling debris. She survives and later assists the Federation Force in escaping the battleship's destruction, rescuing them with her Gunship when they are sucked into the vacuum of space. At the end of the mission, she commends the Federation Force and looks forward to their future efforts.

Samus spends the entire fight in gigantic Morph Ball form, laying large destructible Bombs in sets of three and attempting to ram the Marine with the Boost Ball. She constantly rolls around the field, but does not actively chase the Marines.

Samus is surrounded by a purple shield that negates all the Marines' attacks, although she can be frozen with the Freeze Shot. However, the shield does not cover the green cores on her sides, which if shot enough times disables the shield and stops her movement. Once the shield is down, the Marine must shoot and push her into the electric fields at the edges of the room, similar to Blast Ball. After enough damage, Samus regains her shield, repeating the process.

Once she loses all her health, Samus shrinks slightly but regains all her health; the process must be repeated two more times. After one full depletion Samus will start using her Spider Ball to roll across the ceiling, eventually stopping at the center to drop down to the ground and produce a shockwave. After the second full depletion Samus rolls much faster, drops larger red Bombs, and also lays Bombs while using Boost Ball and Spider Ball. Her Bombs can be destroyed to get AUX ammo. The mission's bonus objective is to never take damage from Samus's Bombs.

Behind the Scenes

Concept and Creation

“

Samus is an ideal role model not just to me, but for many women to look up to as a powerful game icon. In a video game realm with princesses aplenty, Samus stands out as an atypical Nintendo gal holding the title of one of gaming's strongest symbols of courage, power, and heroism.

Samus Aran first appeared in 1986, as the playable protagonist in the video game Metroid. Originally, Samus was created solely as an alternate identity for the player to put themselves into and was given no separate personality or defining features, characteristic of the creative treatment of many video game characters of the time. Partway through the development process, one member of the team suggested: "Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if the character turned out to be a woman?” A vote was held and Samus was changed into a woman. The identity of the developer who suggested making Samus a woman is unknown, and when asked in 2017, Yoshio Sakamoto was unable to remember. He suggested that it may have been someone who has since left Nintendo.[7]

Since the film series Alien was acknowledged as a major influence in the development of Metroid, it is reasonable to assume that the inspiration for making Samus a woman may have very well come from the film's own Ellen Ripley. Indeed, in the Nintendo Power-published Super Metroid comic, her personality was based on a mix of Ripley and Princess Leia from the Star Wars series. Contrary to popular belief, Samus was not created by Metroid producer Gunpei Yokoi. The original game concepts were done by game director Makoto Kanō and were designed by Hiroji Kiyotake.[8]

The name Samus is the female variant of the name Seamus, which is Celtic for James, which means: "He who supplants". Her last name of Aran may refer to the Aran Islands on the west coast of Ireland. Combining the two gives the meaning: "She who supplants an island" or "She who conquers an isolated area by force."[9] Pronunciation of the name over the years has varied from either SAMUHS A-RUHN (as in the verb "run"), A-RAHN (using the "CAT" vowel for the first two As and the verb form of "ran"), but it wasn’t until the release of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption that pronunciation of her name was finally cemented as SAMUHS ERR-EN, and it is likely to remain this way since. An interview with several of the developers of the original Metroid states that her name originated from the famous footballer Edson Arantes "Pelé" do Nascimento.

Voice

Concept art for Samus in Metroid: Zero Mission

Super Metroid marked the first time Samus had written dialogue in a game, narrating the events directly after Metroid II: Return of Samus. Her speaking role was expanded in Metroid Fusion, where she spoke in more narrative monologues, and also conversations with her computer. Though Fusion was well praised, there was some controversy over Samus’s several inner monologues and as a result, aside from an opening narration as well as the beginning of the expanded portion of the plot in Metroid: Zero Mission, she did not speak again until Metroid: Other M, the first Metroid game to feature Samus in an extensive, voice-acted role.

However, it was initially intended for Super Metroid to give her an audible voice for the first time in the series. A short voice track recorded by Minako Hamano could be heard as Samus died, as well as a brief view of the latter's nude body during the death sequence. These elements were reconsidered because of American sensitivity to nudity and the voice sounding "too sexual", thus Tomoyoshi Yamane added the black bathing suit to her and the voice track was removed. Sakamoto claimed in a Super Metroid interview that he has "a special version of the ROM" with the original death sequence.

Samus first received a voice in the game Metroid Prime, although she had no in-game dialogue: instead, she only utters various grunts or yells when damaged, a scream when killed, and rarely, breathing when at low energy or in an extreme climate. Dialogue for Samus was considered, but scrapped as Retro Studios felt it did not suit the game.[10] Though Nintendo Power claimed that Jennifer Hale provided Samus's voice for the Prime games, the credits make no mention of this. In a 2018 interview, Prime and Echoes audio lead Clark Wen revealed that Samus's voice recording was handled by Nintendo, who sent recordings from a dozen voice actresses. The recordings Wen used in the final game included the initials of the actress in the filename from his ProTools session, "JH", which he was reasonably certain stood for Jennifer Hale. However, Samus's death scream was different as he wanted an actress with a higher register for it; the initials for that actress are "VM" (suggested to be Vanessa Marshall).[11] Wen did recognize one of the other actresses as Gabrielle Carteris.[10]

Her second voice actress was Alésia Glidewell in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, who also voiced Knuckle Joe and Krystal in the same game. Most surprising about Glidewell's depiction of her is that Samus is given a voice-over with speaking lines for the first time. While she is in her Zero Suit (a separate character known as Zero Suit Samus), she speaks for all three of her taunts, and in one victory pose cutscene. Her lines are:

"Is that all?"

"Try me."

"You’re mine."

"Be still."

Although Samus lacked a voice actress in Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, she occasionally communicated via mechanical sounds such as during taunts, and if knocked either into a star fade or into the screen, she would utter a mechanical roar. Glidewell's taunts are retained in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Metroid: Other M features Samus speaking again, voiced by Jessica Martin. In the Japanese version, she is voiced by Ai Kobayashi. Martin's Samus voice in this game, particularly her monologues, was criticized for sounding completely monotone during these times, which occurred due to Yoshio Sakomoto ordering her to voice her that way to match the Japanese voicetrack (in Japan, characters that spoke in a monotone during tense moments were indicated to be stoic and badass characters).

In the Japanese commercial for Metroid: Zero Mission, Samus is portrayed by Chisato Morishita.

Gender

Samus' true identity as a woman was a heavily guarded secret, and was obscured by the Power Suit’s androgynous appearance. The game manuals for Metroid in Japan used pronouns like "it" mainly because the Japanese language only has gender-neutral pronouns like aista. The American manuals flat-out referred to Samus as a "he", but it is unknown if this was an attempt to keep Samus' gender a secret or simply a mistranslation. Only by beating the game in under an hour could the player gain access to a secret ending where Samus would remove her Power Suit and reveal herself as a woman. It has become a tradition for Samus to do so in every Metroid game since, if the player completes the proper in-game requirements.

In the 1994 Japanese Nintendo Official Guide Book for Super Metroid, a number of biography cards were published about each of the members of the development team. Hirofumi Matsuoka, one of the background artists and a designer for Samus in the original game, answered one of the questions (which asked if there were any secrets of Samus that only he knew) with the statement "Samus isn't a woman. As a matter of fact, she's actually a newhalf."[12] Newhalf (ニューハーフ,nyūhāfu?) is a Japanese slang term used to refer to transgender women or transvestites, roughly equivalent to the English slur "shemale".[13] The sincerity of this quote has since become a source of heated debate; some fans have cited it as canonical proof of Samus being a trans woman, while others have dismissed it as a crude joke from a non-authoritative source.[14] Regardless of Matsuoka's intentions, his remark has been contradicted (and likely overruled) by series co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto, who joked in 2004 that a Metroid game on the PlayStation 2 would be "as likely as Samus Aran being a newhalf."[15], as well as canonical material that depicts Samus as being female as early as her toddler years.

Toys

A number of figures and toys have been produced of Samus over the years. A gallery of these is below.

Role in other media

"What's the matter? All I said was that Komaytos look like little Metr—" Non-canon warning: This article or section contains information that may not be considered an official part of the Metroid series in the overall storyline by Nintendo.

Being one of Nintendo’s flagship franchises, Metroid, and Samus with it, have been featured in a variety of other media, as cameos, or in promotional material, as well as being mentioned or spoofed in other games or on television.

Super Smash Bros. series

Samus in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Samus is one of the original eight characters in the Super Smash Bros. series and has appeared in all four games to date. The wide array of weapons she can use include Missiles, Super Missiles, the Charge Beam, the Grapple Beam, the Screw Attack, and Bombs, as well as a flamethrower. Her Gunship from Metroid II: Return of Samus appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Brawl and the fourth games. In the first game, she was subject to a rather infamous glitch where, if she is hit by Pikachu's thunder jolt or a ray gun, her Varia Suit vanishes and she has a silver polygon model exposed briefly. In every game except for Melee (which featured a uniform character entrance for all the characters where they simply have their trophies come to life), her entrance animation is her emerging from a Save Point. In Melee, Samus is the only character whose screencaps do not place her on her home stage, instead placing her on Corneria from Star Fox.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Samus is given access to a powerful new weapon as her Final Smash: the Zero Laser. It allows her to fire a gigantic beam of incredible strength, but consumes so much energy that Samus’s Power Suit falls apart, revealing her Zero Suit. Samus's appearance behind the Power Suit is completely original in this installment. In her normal Power Suit form, Samus tends to be a heavyweight character who's rather floaty in midair, but tends to pack a decent amount of power. In the Zero Suit form, however, she becomes far faster and gains access to her Paralyzer, which she can use as an energy whip and to fire stunning shots, though at a small cost lacks a bit of her original raw power. In the fourth game and Ultimate, the Zero Laser no longer destroys the Power Suit, and Zero Suit Samus is a separately selectable character. Zero Suit Samus uses her Gunship for her Final Smash in the fourth game, and the Zero Laser with it in Ultimate.

Samus also plays a role in Brawl's Adventure mode: The Subspace Emissary. In it, she first appears in her Zero Suit, breaking into the base of the Subspace Army on the Island of the Ancients. Soon she comes across a Pikachu being drained of its electrical power. Samus uses her whip to break the container the Pikachu is being held in, summoning a security force of R.O.B.s. The two join forces to retrieve Samus’s Power Suit, but are confronted by two Shadow Bug clones mimicking it in a similar fashion to the SA-X.

After reacquiring her Power Suit, Samus and Pikachu come across Ridley. He grabs Samus and starts to drag her against the wall, until Pikachu returns Samus' favor and uses Thunder on Ridley, causing him to drop Samus. An infuriated Ridley attacks. Once they defeat him, the duo exits the base and come across a cave where R.O.B.s are exiting with newly manufactured Subspace Bombs.

Samus and Pikachu make their way through the Subspace Bomb Factory and find the Ancient Minister with the R.O.B. Squad. They prepare to fight, but then realize that he looks very sad. At that moment, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Diddy and DK burst in. A hologram of Ganondorf appears and orders the R.O.B. Squad to activate the remaining bombs. The Ancient Minister tries to stop them, but is set on fire when Ganondorf orders them to retaliate. After the Ancient Minister is revealed to be a R.O.B. himself, Samus and the other characters all rush out to escape the Island before it is engulfed, but are confronted by Meta Ridley and duel him aboard the Falcon Flyer.

Smash File, Nintendo Power volume 215.

Samus groups up with the other fighters to lead an assault on the Subspace Gunship, during which she uses her own gunship as a distraction to buy enough time for Kirby to arrive on the Dragoon. She and the other fighters head into the Subspace Realm, but she is defeated by Tabuu and turned into a trophy when Tabuu arrives and uses his Off Waves to defeat all who are attacking him. King Dedede later comes to save her and she continues with the others to lead the final attack on Tabuu.

Although the story is not canon to Metroid, it is to be noted that some elements of the cutscene prior to the fight with Ridley in Subspace Emissary were later repeated in Metroid: Other M, and was to a certain extent in Metroid: Samus Returns. Similarly, her being saved by an ally when nearly killed by her nemesis via said ally's natural abilities, and to a certain extent her nemesis's reaction to such, was also reused for Samus Returns (only in that case, it was the baby saving Samus via its life energy drain/transfer abilities on Proteus Ridley).

Stock icon in Ultimate.

Samus is also naturally prominent in Ridley's reveal trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as she appears moving carefully along a walkway in a dark ominous space station with Mario and Mega Man following her lead. Ridely suddenly strikes with incredible speed dispatching both Mario and Mega Man while Samus is unaware. When she turns around with her Arm Cannon drawn all she sees is Mario's iconic cap left lying on the floor, then Ridley bursts from undeath and taunts Samus with Mario's cap. Towards the end of trailer Ridley uses his firebreath to destroy Samus along with her Gunship, however to the Space pirate's surprise Samus (now in her Zero Suit) leaps from the wreckage of her spaceship and attacks him a kick.

Cameos in other Nintendo titles

Famicom Wars (1988, Famicom) (Unreleased outside Japan; The Red Star commander on Donut Island is called Samasuun, and her face on the result screen is Samus' helmet.)[16]

Tetris (1989, NES) (Cameo, appears playing the upright bass after the player wins a B-type game of level at least 9 and height at least 2.)[16]

F-1 Race (1990, Game Boy) (Cameo, appears cheering for the player with four other women before Course 7)[16]

Galactic Pinball (Virtual Boy) (Cameo, her ship appears in a minigame where the player must shoot oncoming Metroid enemies, similar to Space Invaders)

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996, SNES) (Cameo, after Mario's party defeats Yaridovich and until Mario travels to Land's End, he may find her sleeping in the Mushroom Kingdom Castle. Also, a Samus figurine appears in the toy box of Booster's Room.)

Kirby Super Star (1996, SNES) (Cameo, when Kirby uses his stone ability he can become a Samus statue. Also, the Screw Attack icon (called the Screwball) is a treasure in the Great Cave Offense segment of the game.)[17]

Kirby’s Dream Land 3 (1997, SNES) (Cameo, appears after level 5-2, which also contains six Metroids. If Kirby defeats them all using an Ice power, Samus will remove her helmet.)[17]

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003, Game Boy Advance) (Samus was intended to appear at Starbeans Cafe, among other Nintendo characters, during a scripted event. Dialog remains in the game's code- "Cashier: Whoa! A power outage? Yikes! Samus Aran! I see you're rocking and rolling as usual! ...Looks like your energy tanks are empty! Sorry, but can't you give your Hoolumbian to Samus? Oh! Feeling better?" She would then give the player an Energy Tank in exchange for the drink. Ultimately, most of the items were replaced with similar ones in the final game, though the Energy Tank became a Power Grip accessory.)

Animal Crossing: Wild World (2005, Nintendo DS) (Gulliver, the seagull, references Samus saying "Tell me, have you ever heard of the bounty hunter that can turn into a ball?" Also you can get a 1x1 item that is a Metroid in a case. When you touch it, it glows and plays a small clip of Metroid music.)

Geist (2005, Nintendo GameCube) (Samus’s helmet and red clothing are seen in a locker within the women’s locker room at Volks Corporation.)[16]

Tetris DS (2006, Nintendo DS) (Metroid-based course, Catch Mode; in the title screen, Samus shoots some tetrominoes; A difficulty level on Marathon Mode is Metroid Themed, with Samus to the right, and clips of the original Metroid playing on the top screen, but with a more realistic background.)

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Wii) for the Wii was intended to include Samus and Link, but Nintendo did not allow Activision to include them. A video shows her using many of her attacks from the series, which would have been motion-activated.)

WarioWare: Smooth Moves (2007, Wii) (Contains a microgame based on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Samus also occasionally appears in two other games, with a Super Metroid cartridge in one and Samus playing an upright bass again (as she had in Tetris) in another.)

Dead or Alive: Dimensions (2011, Nintendo 3DS) (Samus makes an appearance towards the end of every match on the Geothermal Power Plant to kill Ridley with her Power Bomb. A recent interview confirmed her unlockability. [2])

NES Remix 2 (2014, Wii U) (Metroid is featured in this NES game compilation for Wii U.)

In other media

Promotional poster released by Nintendo in March 2015 to commemorate Women's History Month in the style of Rosie the Riveter: "At the end of the first Metroid game, Samus Aran shocked players by revealing her gender, making many fans question why they assumed she was male in the first place."

Samus was also a semi-regular character in the Captain N: The Game Master comic books, published as part of the Nintendo Comics System. In these stories, Samus has romantic feelings for Kevin Keene, the main character, despite his own affections for another woman, Princess Lana. However, as she states in the story "Breakout", Samus prefers to win Kevin’s affections fairly. Samus gunship also makes an appearance, though in a very different form than in the games. Interestingly, the ship's class in the comic was "Hunter IV", suggesting that the ship's canonical designation ("Hunter Class") may have been derived from the comic.

In the Captain N: The Game Master cartoon, Samus did not appear, even though Mother Brain was the show's primary villain. Jeffrey Scott claimed in an interview that he didn’t feature Samus in the cartoon because he "never heard of her".[18]

Samus also starred in her own Nintendo Comics System stories, apparently set in the same continuity, titled Deceít Du Jour; it was the only ten-page story to have the Metroid umbrella title. In this story, Samus duels with another Bounty Hunter, 'Big Time' Brannigan, whom Mother Brain has hired to capture her, and who claims to be just as efficient as Samus. In the end, Samus proves her superiority by sabotaging her own gun (after he damages her Arm Cannon) before handing it over to Big Time. When Big Time attempts to kill her with it later on, it explodes, covering Samus' escape.

In the 1989 movie The Wizard, Metroid can be seen briefly (in a full-screen shot) on a PlayChoice-10.

A super deformed doll in Samus' likeness that Princess Peach desired drove the humorous plot for a Mario VS Wario comic that was published one month prior to the Super Metroid comic.

Samus also starred in two comic adaptations featured in Nintendo Power: a 60-page one for Super Metroid[17] and a 24-page one for Metroid Prime.

Samus also appeared in the Samus and Joey series of manga, where she meets a boy named Joey and adventures with him.

Samus once appeared in a Kool-Aid commercial that advertised Metroid II: Return of Samus. An animated version of her is seen in the back of a bus with two children.

In the episode of the show "Code Monkeys" called "Valley of the Silicon Dolls", Larrity searches for bounty hunters to kill the robotic teddy bear that Dave, Jarry, and Black Steve reprogrammed. Towards the end of the episode, a warped version of Samus' ship rises up and Samus jumps out and kills the teddy bear. She then removes her helmet and reveals that she is actually Mary. She then morphs into a ball and rolls away. This version of Samus has the arm cannon on her left arm instead of her right, probably due to copyright issues with Nintendo.

In the official Men in Black 3 game by Gameloft, available for the iOS and Android, one of the recruitable agents from the Locker Room at MIB Headquarters is a woman named Samantha Aran. Both her appearance and name are obvious references to Samus Aran, and her former services included being a counter-terrorist, similar to how Samus thwarts terrorists' plans, most notably the many Space Pirate operations.

Official data

"The armor-clad hero's sci-fi side-scrolling games introduced the galaxy to Metroids, parasitic organisms capable of absorbing energy. Samus starred in three Metroid games, beginning in 1986 when the Galactic Federation first recruited her to battle monstrous space pirates who were amassing armies of Metroids. With her special combat gear engineered by the Chozo aliens, Samus was able to stop the Metroid threat, and she's gearing up for more interstellar shoot-outs on the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance."

"Samus is the star of the Metroid series of action games, which was created by Shigeru Miyamoto-the man behind such video game greats as Mario, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda."

Super Smash Bros.

"Samus Aran is the toughest bounty hunter in the galaxy. Using a special suit powered by the technology of the bird people which allows her to execute daring acrobatic feats, Samus pursues the airborne life form, Metroid, throughout the universe."

"This intergalactic bounty hunter's full name is Samus Aran. Clad in a Power Suit made by the Chozo race and infused with their enhanced blood, she cleared the planet Zebes of a Metroid infestation. Samus is an orphan, the sole survivor of a Space Pirate raid that destroyed an Earth colony named K-2L."

"Samus has an abundance of projectile weapons, making her a long- distance attack specialist. The most powerful weapon in her arsenal is the Charge Beam, but be warned: It can be reflected. Her missiles have homing capabilities, but when fired as Smash Attacks, they fly on a straight trajectory and have boosted power."

[B: Charge Shot] [Smash B: Missile]

"While Samus' arsenal missile weapons is indeed formidable, her enemies are in for a rude awakening if they guard against nothing else. Her grappling beam captures foes and latches on to walls, and the Screw Attack drags foes upward in a series of spins that doubles as a recovery move. Samus can also use her Bombs to perform Bomb Jumps."

[Up & B: Screw Attack]

[Down & B: Bomb]

Metroid Prime website

"The bounty hunter Samus Aran was hired by the Galactic Federation to exterminate the Space Pirate army on Planet Zebes. Samus was successful in not only defeating the Space Pirate army, but in neutralizing the Metroid threat as well. Performance and professionalism were very impressive.

With her Chozo-built Power Suit, Samus prefers hi-tech weaponry to deal with enemy threats, although the bounty hunter also undoubtedly also possesses excellent melee combat skills."

Security Command issued an all-points alert after the fall of Zebes. The alert concerns bioform Samus Aran, also known as the Hunter. Subject is a female hominid, and is heavily armed and extremely dangerous. Subject uses a powered armorsuit of unknown design in battle, along with a number of potent Beam and concussive weapons. All combat units are instructed to terminate Aran on sight, preferably in a fashion that will allow salvage of her powered armorsuit and weapons. A considerable bounty will go to the unit who delivers Aran to Command. Dead or alive, it matters not.

Nintendo Power issue 162, page 37

"WHO IS SAMUS ARAN?The hero of Metroid Prime is Samus Aran, a bounty hunter charged with keeping the universe safe from all manner of unimaginable horrors. Brave, resourceful and cunning, Samus is the final line of defense against mankind’s greatest foes – and willing to charge into situations that would make entire marine platoons turn tail and run. But courage and smarts are not the only items in Samus’s arsenal. She also has access to some very impressive tools and weaponry."

"Acknowledged by everyone as the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy. Accepted Joey and allows him to travel along."

Metroid.com (Metroid Prime Hunters)

"Samus Aran is well known throughout the galaxy as an efficient and experienced bounty hunter. Few other hunters can compete with Samus' long history of successful missions, most of which are carried out against seemingly insurmountable odds."

"Samus is a great choice and balanced hunter for all modes and most arenas. Her Morph Ball form gives her extra ground speed and her Bombs are effective, whether she's chasing another hunter or being chased."

Hunters manual

"One of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy. Her Power Suit has the ability to transform her into a Morph Ball."

Galactic Federation Datafile SA-003.(Samus Aran)Data moved to Logbook for review.

Logbook entry

GFDF SA-003Subject is a "bounty hunter", who enjoys a considerable reputation throughout the galaxy. She was instrumental in many incidents with Space Pirates and the parasitic life forms known as Metroids. Suit systems and weaponry of this subject are based on modified Chozo technology; the exact link to the Chozo requires further investigation. It is known that Samus Aran harbors extreme hostility to the Pirates, which is definitely mutual.

Return of the Hunter

Temporary scan

Space Pirate data decoded.Entry: (Return of the Hunter)Data moved to Logbook for review.

Logbook entry

Entry 06.003.8The news of our spies confirmed our worst suspicions - Samus lives. Though she is drawn by Dark Samus, she resists her call, where her allies bent. Somehow, she remains the master of her will! Like always, she stands up to affront us, to challenge us and to try our power.This time, Samus will not see us fail. Her former brethren lie in wait for her. The spirit of the great Dark Samus has captured these great hunters, wiped out the lies of the Federation, and shown them the glory of her reign. Blessed Phazon flows through their veins, and increases their strength many times. Now, certainly, this is the end of Samus Aran!

Respected by friend and foe alike, Samus Aran is known and feared as one of the toughest bounty hunters in the galaxy. Samus's battles against the parasitic Metroid life-forms and the vile Space Pirates are nothing short of legendary–she's encountered and thwarted both numerous times while on missions for the Galactic Federation. Even though she's human, Samus was raised by the Chozo–the same alien race responsible for creating her intimidating Power Suit. Not only does the suit act as armor, but it can be equipped with an assortment of upgrades that grant Samus a wide array of offensive, defensive, and reflex-enhancing capabilities.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl trophy

"The intergalactic bounty hunter named Samus Aran. Orphaned at an early age, she was taken in and raised by the alien race known as the Chozo. The Power Suit she wears is a product of their technology. Her unique combat skills combined with her athleticism and Arm Cannon have seen her through countless missions."

"Samus lived with her parents on the planet K-2L, a human colony in the Galactic Federation domain. When Samus was three years old, K-2L was attacked by a band of Space Pirates lead by the brutal ruffian Ridley. When the Space Pirates left and the smoke cleared, a single figure remained standing. It was Samus Aran, the sole survivor of the attack on K-2L.

Samus was rescued from the charred ruins of K-2L by the Chozo, a race of beings who resemble giant birds. They had received the colony's distress signal during the attack and came to assist. The Chozo took Samus back to their homeworld, Zebes.

Being a highly technologically advanced race, the Chozo crafted a power suit for Samus that gave her incredible strength. They trained her to become a fearsome warrior. Once her training was complete, Samus parted ways with the Chozo and became an intergalactic bounty hunter.

Samus carried out countless missions. Many that other bounty hunters deemed impossible. She became the most famed and capable bounty hunter in the universe, yet she was not fulfilled. Samus didn't become a bounty hunter to achieve fortune or fame. Her purpose was to avenge the death of her parents by slaying Ridley and the rest of the Space Pirates.

"Strong-willed and fiercely independent, this accomplished bounty hunter has saved the galaxy on multiple occasions from maladies as menacing as Metroids-and beyond. Echoes of her complicated past with the Galactic Federation are about to resurface, following a mysterious distress call."

Story

"Samus Aran is a bounty hunter with a long and complex history-fraught with danger, trauma, and triumph. For the first time, she will have to confront her mysterious past, as well as the Galactic Federation, the military force she left to become a bounty hunter...

Having traveled to planet SR388 to destroy the powerful and menacing alien species known as Metroids, Samus battled the ferocious Queen Metroid and rid the galaxy of their threat. One last baby Metroid remained, which Samus took with her, seeing peaceful scientific applications of Metroid biology. Before those experiments could come to fruition the science station was attacked, and the baby fell into the hands of the Space Pirates, led by Mother Brain.

Samus infiltrated Mother Brain's stronghold on planet Zebes to rescue the baby Metroid. Taken down in battle by Mother Brain's power, Samus was unexpectedly restored to health by the baby Metroid. Furious, Mother Brain destroyed the baby, only to be defeated by a newly vigorous Samus-with extraordinary powers given by the Metroid. At last, Mother Brain, the Space Pirates, and the Metroid species were obliterated once and for all... along with the entire planet of Zebes.

As time passed, so did the memory of Metroids and Space Pirates from the collective consciousness. Samus resumed something of a normal bounty hunter's life, when a mysterious SOS signal suddenly reached her ship. the signal, code named "Baby's Cry," seemed to be calling out specifically to her..."

"Up until now, not much was known about Samus Aran. Orphaned at a young age when her family was killed by Space Pirates, Samus was raised by the Chozo, the same race that created her Power Suit. Eventually Samus used her cybernetic enhancements to become a freelance bounty hunter. But before she was traveling through space on a bounty mission she was a part of the Galactic Federation. Little as is known about Samus's life - even less is known about her time in the Galactic Federation.

Prepare to accompany Samus on a new mission with old friends from the Galactic Federation. As Samus, you will venture down the dangerous hallways of the BOTTLE SHIP, and you'll also traipse down memory lane."

"A bounty hunter that wears a power suit inherited from the Chozo and that took part in numerous dangerous missions. Having had a career being enrolled in the Galactic Federation Army, she encounters her colleagues and superiors from her military days here in the Bottleship."

"My time as a member of the Galactic Federation Army was bound to end - though I was a soldier, I was also a child with a chip on my shoulder. And I was angry. I felt that if I let my guard down I would easily be broken. So, after a certain incident, I left Adam Malkovich's command and set out on my path as a solitary Bounty Hunter."

"I always had something to prove while enlisted in the Galactic Federation Army - at the time, I felt surrounded by people who treated me like a child, or used kid gloves because I was a woman. In the face of the well-meaning behavior of the other soldiers, my response was to become increasingly bitter."

"Nintendo's first lady should need little introduction. The death-dealing bounty hunter responds to a distress call from a mysterious space station called The Bottle Ship. Could her old adversaries, the Space Pirates, be up to some mischief?"

"Samus Aran has fought her way across a variety of planets in the Metroid series. She wears a Power Suit designed by the Chozo, giving her incredible versatility in a fight. She can wade in, but she favors beams and missiles. A fully charged Charge Shot packs a serious punch!"

PAL

"The heroine of the Metroid series, Samus Aran. Her missions take her across the reaches of space, and her Power Suit gives her immeasurable fighting prowess. In this game, she uses a variety of ranged attacks based around beams and missiles. When her Charge Shot is fully charged, it can launch foes with devastating force."

Samus (U)

"Samus Aran is known for her numerous battles across alien planets in the Metroid series. She wears a Power Suit designed by the Chozo, giving her incredible versatility in a fight. She can wade in with kicks and punches, but she favors beams and missiles. A fully charged Charge Shot packs a serious punch!"

Samus (Alt.)

NTSC (both versions)

"Samus protects herself from overhead enemies with her up smash, Cover Fire, which can land multiple hits on anyone it connects with. Samus also fires a homing missile by holding sideways and pressing the special- attack button or launches a Super Missile by quickly tapping sideways instead."

Palutena: "However, Samus can throw a storm of shots at you. If you use your Orbitars too often, she'll know what you're up to."

Palutena: "So try to reflect strategically, as opposed to your...usual game plan."

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Official Game Guide Trophy Description"Samus Aran has fought her way across a variety of planets in the Metroid series. She wears a Power Suit designed by the Chozo, giving her incredible versatility in a fight. She can wade in with kicks and punches, but she favors beams and missiles. A fully charged Charge Shot packs a serious punch!"

Smash Tips (Super Smash Bros. for Wii U)

"Samus's Origins – Samus Aran made her debut in the 1987 NES title Metroid. It is a science-fiction action-adventure game with a focus on exploration."

Strategy (SSB4 Official Game Guide)

"Samus has a variety of projectiles to attack opponents from long range and some good tools to rack up damage in the air. She is somewhat unique in that she is a fairly heavy character with decent ground speed who is also rather floaty. While she has a strong long-range game, she can also be effective up close. Her main weaknesses are her horizontal recovery and her KO power.

For Samus’s long-range game, you have a lot of choices. You have Charge Shot, which you can use in quick bursts or fully charged up, and you have two Missile variations. Since a fully charged Charge Shot has good KO potential, consider keeping it fresher by using it less. Mixing up Homing Missile and Super Missile will throw off your opponent’s timing. If you ever hit with a Super Missile, immediately send out more Homing Missiles or charge up your Charge Shot. (When it comes to knockback, Super Missiles are much more effective than Homing Missiles.) If playing in free-for-all modes, use a lot of Bombs around you as small traps to keep you safer while using your projectiles. Since the bombs don’t damage Samus, it literally doesn’t hurt to have one around. You can even use the blast from one to bounce Samus and make her stay in the air longer.

Screw Attack has a tiny bit of invincibility and is a decent out-of-shield option, but it’s primarily used for Samus's vertical recovery. Don’t forget you can also shoot these projectiles in the air to create a vertical minefield for your opponents to avoid!

Up close, Samus’s Side Tilt attack is very quick, given its excellent range, but its damage output is fairly low. Down Tilt is also good for its speed and knockback. You can also use Samus’s long-range grapple to throw opponents while on the ground, as it prevents opponents from approaching recklessly. For KOs, go with Side Smash, Down Tilt, or a fully charged Charge Shot. Up Smash can work for KOs as well, but because it’s hard to use against standing opponents, use it against airborne opponents instead. In the air, Samus has a couple of good damage-racking options with Up Air and Forward Air. For KOs in the air, however, go with Back Air. When opponents are off-stage, use your missiles to edge guard, as this may interrupt their recoveries. If you successfully interrupt them, try to follow up with Down Air for a meteor smash."

"Orphaned during a Space Pirate raid on her home, Samus Aran went on to become the most feared Bounty Hunter in the galaxy, often aiding the Galactic Federation. Armed with a versatile Power Suit and a bevy of advanced weaponry, Samus Aran is often called upon to complete missions that would otherwise be considered impossible. To date, she has completed all of these missions."

"The intergalactic bounty hunter named Samus Aran. Orphaned at an early age, she was taken in and raised by the alien race known as the Chozo. The Power Suit she wears is a product of their technology. Her unique combat skills combined with her athleticism and Arm Cannon have seen her through countless missions."